Three indicted in killing of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry; 1 suspect in custody, 2 others unnamed and at large; Feds deny any wrongdoing on Fast and Furious

Posted on May 7, 2011

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Finally we’re seeing some progress related to the case of the December 15, 2010 killing of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Yesterday, the indictment of the illegal immigrant that the police have had in custody since the shooting was reported. Manuel Osorio-Arellanes had been held in custody due to his illegal re-entry into the U.S. after being deported in June 2010. Until now, he had not been officially charged in the killing. Today another story indicates that it isn’t just Osorio-Arellanes who is allegedly responsible for the agent’s murder:

Three border-banditry suspects have been indicted in the murder of a U.S. agent who was shot during a late-night firefight near Rio Rico five months ago.

Manuel Osorio-Arellanes of El Fuerte, in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, and two unidentified co-defendants face 14 counts for second-degree murder, conspiracy and other offenses in connection with a Dec. 15 gunbattle that took the life of Agent Brian Terry, 40.

The shootout began when Border Patrol agents confronted a “rip crew,” criminals who prey on smugglers and undocumented immigrants entering the United States. Terry was a member of the agency’s elite BORTAC unit, a tactical squad assigned to combat violent robberies in the area.

Osorio-Arellanes, wounded during the shootout, was the only suspect captured. The names of two other defendants are sealed because they have not been apprehended.

Wonderful, the other two suspects are on the loose. Although the records are sealed, my guess is those two suspects were here illegally as well and have probably fled back south across the border. After all, every suspect picked up in relation to this case has been an illegal immigrant, both those suspected of being in the rip crew and others who were picked up in the area around the time of the killing.

In relation to Agent Terry’s murder, the ATF and the Justice Department have now admitted that some of the weapons found at the scene are from the notorious Operation Fast and Furious which delivered guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. This operation has turned into a gigantic clusterfark that’s now resulted in at least one, possibly two, federal agents’ deaths (the other being Jaime Zapata):

After Terry was shot, two AK-47 rifles found at the scene were traced to purchases from an Arizona gun store that was being monitored by ATF in an investigation known as Operation Fast and Furious.

Several dozen so-called straw buyers have been indicted in that case, accused of buying firearms from Arizona dealers and shipping them to narcotics cartels in Mexico.

As part of that investigation, federal whistle-blowers allege that the Department of Justice allowed hundreds of guns to be “walked south” in the hope of tracking them to Mexican kingpins.

ATF and Justice Department officials acknowledge that some weapons from Operation Fast and Furious crossed the border.

However, they say that took place either before suspects were placed under surveillance or after suspects managed to evade surveillance.

During testimony on this operation, Attorney General Eric Holder denied knowing anything about the project even though records show it was started in 2009. He also claimed that he didn’t know had given authorization for the operation. While Holder may deny any knowledge , Representative Darrel Issa, who is leading a Congressional investigation into the matter, released some important details from his investigation. The first is that the U.S. District Attorney for Arizona knew of the project and thought it was a good idea to allow these weapons to flow into the cartels’ hands. The second is that Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer , advisor to Attorney General Holder, also knew of the operation and approved a wiretap application for suspects involved in the operation over a year ago.

Given Holder’s testimony, he wants us to believe that he had no knowledge of an operation that his assistant approved a wiretap for over a year ago, and he only learned of it within the last three weeks? Come on. Either Holder is covering up or he’s been too busy SUING Arizona over its illegal immigration laws to see the massive FUBAR his department has created, you take your pick.